As demand for SEO rises in companies, there are many individuals who want to become SEO experts. There are some who would watch a YouTube tutorial or read an article, and consider them experts, and then there are those who actually take a course, get a certificate, and then become experts. There are many SEO courses out there, and in order to choose the best one, individuals should look for some main elements.

Modules

An ideal Lentis SEO course would be one which has eight modules, where individuals can learn about SEO and implement it as well. In order to make it easier for individuals, the classes, shouldnt be longer than 3 hours; some individuals might prefer online courses and not going physically to class, but learning with others can be very fruitful.

Pre-Requisite For The Course

Individuals should have basic computer and marketing knowledge.If they dont know how to use a computer, then this class can be problematic for them. However, having technical knowledge should not be a prerequisite, because technical concepts are taught in such courses. If an individual is taking the course online, then they should have a good internet connection, to stay in touch with the professor and download the materials accordingly.

Module 1

An ideal module 1 in an SEO course would introduce the concept of SEO to the students fully. Search engine optimization, search engine results page, crawler, vertical search engines, understanding keywords and finding keywords should be taught to students. The concept of keywords should be the focus of module 1, and students should be taught how to use Google Keyword Planner, how keywords are stuffed in SEO content, how they should be placed and geo-specific keywords.

Module 2

When the basics of SEO are covered in module 1, module 2 should cover the technical and important terms. These should include how SEO copywriters can write page titles, Meta descriptions, Meta data optimization, social media optimization, and content optimization. Students should be taught about how robots.txt can be used; at times, it can become difficult to understand how this file should be used, and the mistake of blocking web pages, which shouldnt be.

Module 3

This module should deal with more technical terms like XML sitemap, how a redirect setup can be used and the main objective of using .htaccess. Google has many tools to offer SEO experts, and these tools should be explained to students, like Google Analytics, how it can be set and managed. Google Analytics is used for the purpose of measuring SEO performance and assessing if a website is getting any traffic or not. Students should be taught about basic HTML, FTP and how files can be uploaded and downloaded using this software.

Module 4

Off-page SEO is equally important like on-page SEO; the fourth module should deal with terms like PR, DA and PA. The module should deal with submission guidelines that directories and articles have, along with best practices. Students can learn about classified submission, B2B, guest blogging and blog commenting. As content creation is an important part of SEO, students would benefit from learning about forum posting.

Module 5

This module should deal with link building, because it is a great way to drive traffic to a website. Students should be able to learn about contextual link building, what they should and shouldnt do to get links. They should be able to differentiate between external links and internal links.

Module 6

This module should deal with websites setting up their accounts online, and registering their business in local directories. They should be taught about how SEO relates to brand reputation, how it can be managed, and the role that social media plays in brand building.

Module 7

This module should deal comprehensively with how a website can be analyzed or audited. It would be best to show students how to do it practically. Students can learn about developing an SEO strategy in this model, and about Google algorithms. Google updates its algorithms every now and then, and keeping track of such updates is important.

Module 8

This module should deal with practical lessons, where students are taught how to use the Google Keyword Planner, how a web page can be modified, the use of FTP, setting an account on Google Webmaster and implementation of Google Analytics. An important practical lesson for students would be link building for websites, and how to fix broken links, both internal and external.